Month: June 2013

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Thursday – Drop The Top At 75mph!

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Jeremy – Ah, the English weather… One day it’s hot, the next day there are floods – what is a wind-in-the-hair motoring enthusiast to do? Well, you could do worse than take a test drive in the new DS3 Cabrio.

Unlike other convertibles with a hood rather than a folding metal roof, the Citroen is something of a halfway house. In fact, you have to look closely to spot that it is a convertible at all because the slick shape of the standard DS3 has hardly been changed to accommodate the fabric roof.

That also means that with the hood down, the side windows and frame are still in place, with the hood stacking up neatly where the rear parcel shelf used to be. Truthfully, it’s more of a giant sunroof but make no mistake – when it’s open, the DS3 feels every inch a convertible.

I’ve been playing with the buttons this afternoon and I’ve never experienced such a smooth running roof operation. It simply glides back with the minimum of fuss. What’s more, you don’t have to stop or slow down. The roof operates at speeds of up to 75mph, leaving folding hard-top owners left on the hard shoulder.

I haven’t tried it at speed yet but every car should have a unique selling point and this is one situation where the Citroen really scores.

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Wednesday – A Car For All Season

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Jeremy  The last day in the Sportback – will we miss it? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’. While the styling of this latest A3 five-door is only slightly sharper than the last model, everything else about this exceptionally sensible car is good. Very good indeed.

The A3 is a mass seller for Audi and this is without doubt, the best incarnation of the ubiquitous hatchback to date. Everything revolves around a 2.0 TDI engine that churns out enough power to make the car engaging to drive and will amaze you at the fuel pump too (we’ve average over 50mpg all week).

You can cruise along the motorway while it purrs quietly, or slip down through the six-speed gearbox on an A-road and enjoy  sharp steering that doesn’t throw up any nasty surprises.

Inside, the Audi is very smart, with a classy dashboard and buttons in all the right places. The seats are super comfy but supportive enough for enthusiastic driving. Masses of space both front and rear too.

So the conventional styling and the expensive price tag are really the only questionable attributes of the Sportback. And as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, for some people it will be the perfect buy.

 

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Tuesday – Reg Who?

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Jeremy – I’m just back from Roehampton Club where I spent some of the day playing croquet with Reg Bamford, the double world champion. I’m writing a feature for the FT and Reg very kindly agreed to give me a masterclass.

Never heard of Reg? Well, that’s the nature of sport. While soccer players get paid £200,000 a week, Reg can’t even land a sponsorship deal on his trainers!

Now I’m not suggesting Audi should loan him a courtesy vehicle but walking back to the car park, I couldn’t help noticing that the Audi symbol is four circles – just like the four balls that are used in croquet.

Now, surely that should have Audi clammering to sign him up? Not only is Reg a double world champion, he lives in London and is one of the nicest world sportsmen I have ever met. A true gentleman in every respect – apart from on the court, where he takes no prisoners! The four ring logo represents the four companies that joined together to form Audi in 1932.

It’s the last day with the brilliant A3 tomorrow. A perfect car in just about every respect, apart from the lifeless styling which still frustrates the hell out of me.

 

 

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Monday – My Daily Commute

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Jeremy – The great part of being a freelance journalist is that you get to work from home. I left my last full-time post in 1997 and never miss the daily commute in and out of Bristol – no matter what test car I was driving back then.

The bad part of the job is that sometimes you do have to be somewhere early, joining the millions of other drivers making their daily drive to the office. This morning I had a two-hour drive to Gloucester, which was 76 miles of hell on A and B-roads.

You learn a lot about a car in that situation. Minor niggles become major gripes and you can fall out of love with even the most alluring supercar. Today’s 150 miles in the A3 were pretty sweet all things considered. I felt as fresh getting out of the car at my destination as I did when I first stepped in.

The Audi has excellent, supportive seats that seem to fit every type of driving. They grip you firmly in place on a tight bend and meet your back in all the right places on the motorway.

I found the driving position first class, with height adjustable steering column and telescopic adjustment too. No electric seats though, which seems like an oversight in a car cost this much. There is a neat fold down centre armrest that can be adjusted forwards and back as well.

It’s the same in the rear. I’m 5ft 10ins and had masses of knee room in all three seats. There are plenty of cubbyholes and spaces for driving paraphenalia, with a large boot included.

I’ve no desire to do a daily commute ever again but if I did, the Sportback would be on my list of options.

 

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Sunday – It’s Worth It

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Jessica I have only had very short exposure to this car, however the time I have spent en route to the gym was a pleasure.  From the outside, it’s a sensible looking mode of transport, once inside there are signs that you are in for a treat.

The console is fantastically simple and my favourite feature is the disappearing info screen, select your music or radio station and you can tuck the screen out of the way until you need to surf for new tunes or use the sat nav.

This definitely appeals to my minimalistic tendancies.  The dials are descreet and speak design consideration – the controls are intuitive and easy to operate, even when you have failed to check where everything is before you set out.

The Audi A3 Sportback drives well, it has power, sensitive steering, good road holding and is pure class.

If you need to have a family-style car but still want the fun with a good design aesthetic, this is the car for you.

You are ,of course, paying for the privilege but in my view, if you are able to find the extra cash, it is worth it. If it’s any consolation, on the second hand market this Audi will hold its value too.

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Saturday – The Sensible Choice

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Jeremy – A chap at the newsagents this morning asked me what word would best sum up the Sportback. He had driven Audis since 2002 and was thinking about downsizing from his company A6.

Not an easy question to answer because at first glance, this latest Sportback appears very similar to the last model – and not that unlike the three-door A3. On closer inspection, it has more angular lines and looks more dynamic from the rear but is otherwise, very much a standard issue Audi.

I told him the steering is light and very accurate, it sits well on the road, both at motorway speed and around corners. He was impressed that I’ve also been averaging 51mpg without even trying – in all manner of conditions. It has lowly emissions of 108 k/km too, meaning low road tax.

The A3 reminds me in so many ways of the VW Golf. It’s not the most exciting car to look at but the Sportback is proficient at just about everything you ask it to do. It’s even roomy inside, with a decent boot and quality fittings.

Standing on the road with my weekend FT in hand, I finally come up with the answer. Sensible.

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Friday – Just Not Cricket

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Jeremy It’s not going to be easy picking holes in the Audi A3. This is probably the most competent car I’ve driven in ages – beautifully screwed together, classy and comfortable.

However, these days when I sit in a vehicle for the first time, I look for the features it doesn’t have. I thought with S Line spec and the £1,500 technology pack, all bases would be covered in terms of infotainment.

There’s a pop up, seven-inch screen on the dashboard for sat nav and you can operate the radio and music functions from a perfectly places, rotary dial on the centre console.

Surprisingly, however, the package does not include DAB radio! So, while I had been hoping to listen to the international cricket on Radio 5 Live Extra (only on DAB), I’ve had to settle for R4 instead.

This aside, the system is simple to operate, with a Bluetooth connection to my mobile phone that automatically downloads music tracks without a cable connection. The package also has a ‘Jukebox’ that allows you to download tracks onto the car’s hard drive, where they are saved for future use.

All very slick – but I’m going to miss the cricket…

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Thursday – Platform For Success

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Jeremy Let’s get one thing clear from the start – the latest Sportback looks pretty much the same as the last. I’ve just been wandering around the A3 on the driveway and it screams ‘Audi’ from every angle.

It also ticks all the boxes for space, safety and practicality – just what you would expect from the German design team in Ingolstaft. So what makes this car so damn good?

Well, to start with it is based on the VW Group MQB platform, which will be used across the brand’s entire manufacturing line up, from the SEAT Leon to the Skoda Octavia. Same platform, different car on top.

Which means this platform has to be good because it will be incorporated into so many different cars. The A3 is the pinnacle of this particular platform and after just a day behind the wheel, I can tell you that it drives exceptionally well, with high levels of comfort and handling.

The 2.0 TDI we have on test is remarkably quiet on the motorway too, which is probably where it will spend a lot of its life with many company buyers. I’ve driven about 50 miles and the fuel gauge hasn’t even flickered yet!

The styling leaves me cold but the Sportback may well deserve its many plaudits…

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Wednesday – Beetle Drive

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Jeremy – It’s our last day with the Beetle, VW‘s answer to the retro Mini. But while the Mini has morphed into a variety of oddities, the Bug now looks better than ever.

The masculine, squat shape make the VW more purposeful than ever and there’s an exceptional interior that’s not only a pleasure to sit in but fairly practical too.

Sitting on the latest Golf platform, the Beetle is a better drive than the previous model, even though I would opt for the more refined 2.0-litre engine rather than the 1.4 we tried, which has to be worked exceptionally hard to prove enjoyable.

There’s just enough performance to make the high revving 1.4 fun. The steering is more precise and there is a surprising amount of grip on twisty roads. That said, somehow it doesn’t have the precision of the Golf through the bends.

If you want a roomy, practical hatchback for the family buy a Golf. For those who want something that turns a few heads and stands out from the crowd, the Beetle remains almost as cool as it was 40 years ago.

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Tuesday – Marmite & Baked Beans

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Jeremy – I’ve just dropped off three friends at Heathrow Airport. They’re heading to their French home for six months and I was a bit worried that madam would not get her suitcase full of exotic English fare – Marmite, baked beans, porridge – in the boot of the Beetle.

The last generation ‘new’ Beetle admittedly had a crazy small luggage area but this latest one has grown considerably, a full 50 per cent bigger in fact. The only problem with our test car is that the subwoofer for the Fender sound system does eat up a large chunk of space by the wheel arch.

We managed four suitcases in the back, plus coats, hand luggage and other kit. Only one, carry-on size case had to be squeezed in the middle of the back seat. Impressive.

So the latest Beetle really is a lot more practical than you might think. The retro flip-up glovebox is actually big enough to use – the last version had a flat dash – and there’s plenty more space for long legs in the back.